Durarara!!, Vol. 4 (novel) (18 page)

The doctor noted, “Her muscles were torn to shreds, but it looks like her internal organs are fine. Just in case, once she’s on her feet again, she should get X-rays or an MRI. Some kinds of brain hemorrhage don’t show up until later. If only I had access to Nebula’s research center, I could have done those for you. Sorry.”

“No, you came out in the middle of the night with no notice. Thank you so much.”

“Actually, I came out way ahead in the deal—I got to look at an idol way up close. Oh, and don’t tell Celty I said any of this. She’s a big fan of this girl, too, so she’ll be jealous, just not in the usual way,” the doctor said, chuckling to himself.

Suddenly, the buzzing of a cell phone emanated from his pocket, and he snuck off to the corner of the room to quietly take the call.

The two actors didn’t have much to say, so the room was suddenly plunged into silence. Eventually, Ruri couldn’t stand it any longer and broke the quiet by softly asking, “Why am I here?”

“I was on my way home when you fell in front of my car. I know you didn’t ask for it, but I took you home and called a doctor I know to come look at you.”

“Why here, instead of a hospital?”

“Well, there are a number of reasons…”

He paused briefly and took a breath before continuing, “I thought…you might not want a hospital.”

“…”

“I apologize if my decision wasn’t the correct one. I can even take you to a hospital now, if you want.”

“…No, it’s fine.”

Yuuhei was still totally flat in his affect, while Ruri remained suspicious. Their conversation was distant and polite, but it gave way to more silence.

At that point, the doctor returned, shaking his head.

“Sorry, got another emergency patient! Two in one night—who
would have thought? Damn, just when I had a chance to get to know Ruri Hijiribe,” he complained. As he prepared to leave, he leaned over to Yuuhei’s ear to whisper, “Think you could get me an autograph from her? One for Celty, too. Much appreciated!”

“I’ll ask.”

“Thanks! As a sign of my appreciation, today’s visit is free of charge!”

“No, I can’t…”

“I insist! I’ll just charge my next patient out the wazoo for the crime of cutting my time here short! Say hi to Shizuo for me!”

Still smiling, the man in the white doctor’s coat left the room.

The cat followed the other man out of the room, as if seeing him to the door, leaving only two megastars behind.

But here there were no adoring fans, only silence and the fruitless passage of time.

This time, it was Yuuhei, sitting in the chair at the side of the bed, who broke the silence.

“May I ask something?”

“…What is it?” Ruri replied, turning to him from her sitting position. Her eyes bulged.

In his hand was the zombie skin that she had been wearing until just minutes ago. She tensed up nervously, and Yuuhei said what she was afraid of hearing.

“Ruri, are you the serial killer Hollywood?”

His words were fairly certain, so she cast around for some kind of denial, but—

“That doctor informed me that your body is abnormal.”

So…he does know.

Denying it or playing coy would not get her anywhere. Ruri looked down to avoid the iron mask of his face, and neither confirmed nor denied it.

“If that’s what you thought…why didn’t you hand me over to the police?”

“Did you want me to? If that’s the case, I recommend turning yourself in.”

“…No, that’s not what I mean…”

“Then why are you upset about it?” Yuuhei said in his usual monotone, getting to his feet. Whatever conclusion about Hollywood he took from Ruri’s question, he silently reached out to take the empty water cup from her hand.

“…I see,” Ruri said quietly.

Her arm instantly shot out and grabbed Yuuhei by the neck. She threw him onto the bed, ignoring the scream of all her body’s muscles, and spun so that she was sitting on top of him.

With an extended finger pointed right at Yuuhei’s throat, she asked, in a quiet voice thick with pressure, “Then…you couldn’t have foreseen this possibility?”

“…”

Yuuhei remained expressionless. Ruri’s voice grew more irritated.

“I’m going to be honest with you, Yuuhei. I know that this attitude you display is not just another act…but it’s abnormal.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes. You must be crazy, letting a mass murderer into your own home.”

He looked at her curiously as she sat on top of him. Ruri quietly raised her hand to strike and asked a question.

“Did you never even think it was remotely possible…that you would be killed?”

Two hours later, Sunshine, Sixtieth Floor Street, Ikebukuro

“Good grief. This is what you get for being too good at your job. Two cases in one night!” Shinra lamented as he walked through Ikebukuro at night, the money he earned safely stashed in his doctor’s briefcase. It was a line that a real doctor would rightfully punch him for saying.

“I’ve still got time, so maybe I should stop back in at Yuuhei’s place and get those autographs,” he decided, strolling through the commercial district that was markedly quieter after hours.

“Hey, is that him?”

“Yeah, it is!”

“No doubt about it!”

“Cameraman!”

“?”

Shinra noticed a sudden swell of conversation approaching and looked up to see a sudden blinding camera flash.

“Aaah!!”

“Um, excuse me! You just left an apartment owned by Yuuhei Hanejima about two hours ago, didn’t you?”

“…?!”

It wasn’t until the fifth camera flash that Shinra realized these men were what the world called “paparazzi.”

“Do you have a moment? We understand that Yuuhei Hanejima owns all of the apartments in that building. Are you an acquaintance of his?!”

Gwuh?! No way! He’s that rich?!

Shinra knew the story of how he made nearly 1.2 billion yen for his nest egg, but it was almost impossible to believe that he had enough money to buy an entire building full of the already-expensive luxury apartments that he and Celty lived in. But there was no time to dwell on that.

“About an hour ago, Hanejima and the actress Ruri Hijiribe were seen kissing out in front of the building. What do you know about their relationship?”

“What sort of medical needs were you attending to in the middle of the night?”

“What is your area of medical expertise?”

“Are you an obstetrician?!”

Reporters for a number of different sources deluged him in a waterfall of voices, voices, voices.

“H-hey! Hey, wait!”

What?! What? What happened between those two?! A kiss, just like that?

What about our autographs?!

A number of suspicions arose in Shinra’s panicked mind, but he could tell that the onslaught of questions and camera flashes was robbing him of his ability to think straight.

“All right… In that case, I’ll be answering all of your questions after these quick messages from our sponsors…via airmail!” Shinra said and raced off in a full sprint.

“Hey, he’s getting away!”

“Wait, please!”

“Just one comment!”

And as he glanced back at the pursuing reporters and cameramen over his shoulder, Shinra Kishitani experienced his first serious physical exertion in several years.

Without realizing that on the very same night, Celty was also being hounded by TV cameras.

Twelve hours later, near Kawagoe Highway, apartment building

“Even thinking about it now, yesterday gives me the willies.”

Shinra was still swaddled in black thread, wriggling around on the floor as he waited for Celty to return home.

“Honestly, I wonder what happened there… Once I get free of this, I’m going to watch the news. I was shouting about how I’d sue them for violating my likeness rights, so I doubt they used any photos of me,” he muttered, a giant black silkworm flopping around on the floor seeking the TV remote before the variety shows began.

But just as he had found the remote, the doorbell rang.

Oh, damn. I can’t answer the door. Wait…maybe this thread can be removed with the strength of two people?

He began to wonder what sort of story he could tell this visitor to convince them to help. But before he could call out that he was there, he heard the sound of the door unlocking.

“Oh, is that Celty?! Thank goodness! Your little abandonment fetish thing was quite exciting for a while, but I think it’s finally—” he started, a look of bliss on his face as he greeted…

A number of menacing-looking men led by a gaunt-faced fellow.

It was clear from a glance that they were not in an upstanding line of work, but the thin man at the center of the group, at least, seemed like any other person in his manner.

He strode right into Shinra’s home and coldly noted, “I really don’t get that abandonment kink shit.”

“…Oh, Mr. Shiki. What brings me the pleasure today?”

The man named Shiki looked at Shinra with a combination of
caution, relief, and amusement. The group was from the Awakusu-kai yakuza, and Shiki was a chief lieutenant in the organization despite his relative youth.

“I’m guessing you don’t have a sudden patient for me,” Shinra said. As a matter of fact, he had given Shiki a spare keycard for that very purpose.

A black-market doctor’s most reliable and frequent clients came from their particular line of work, so Shiki’s spare key allowed him to ferry patients inside in an emergency, even if Shinra was sleeping.

But none of the people present appeared to be suffering from gunshot wounds. It was rather curious.

Shiki’s face got serious, and he tossed a newspaper on the ground in front of the human caterpillar. It was the day’s tabloid paper with the front headline reading “Hanejima & Hijiribe’s Late-Night Secret Pregnancy Date?!”

The article contained text that clearly referenced Shinra. It claimed that an obstetrician was witnessed leaving their apartment shortly before the two actors were sighted sharing a kiss.

Shinra read the article closely, relieved that at least they hadn’t published a photo of his face. But…

“You do realize…that there are no other guys who wander around this neighborhood wearing white doctor’s coats all the time,” one of the yakuza muttered. Shiki squatted down to Shinra’s eye level.

“We only have one question for you, Doctor.”

“What is it?”

“Did you happen to
examine Ruri Hijiribe
?”

“Well, yes,” Shinra admitted.

Shiki’s face was a blank, emotionless mask, but in a different way than Yuuhei’s. “I’ll be direct with you—
what is she?
” he asked, his voice calm, powerful, and demanding.

Unaffected, Shinra remained light and aloof. “Before I answer that…I have a request.”

His face got pale and deadly serious. He had business of the utmost importance to conduct.

“Can you help me get free of these black ropes?”

“I’ve been holding it in for hours, and I really need to go…”